Revelations of dysfunctional governance in Wandsworth Prison are a reflection of the precariousness of bureaucratic arrangements throughout the public sector and their potential to unravel

Last Wednesday’s resoundingly critical report on HMP Wandsworth by the Chief Inspector of Prisons, Nick Hardwick, found evidence of severe deficiencies in many aspects of the prison’s management, staff culture, conditions and regimes. The report is now especially prescient given that London’s prisons were ‘filled to capacity’ after the recent riots. Simon Bastow argues that this is a stark reminder of how governance dysfunction can remain latent in a public sector system, while at the same time, can appear to be gradually improving.